🧠 EM Radiation Research Trust advisors revisit UK data: aggressive brain tumour type up four-fold since 1995

August 26, 2026 (EMFS)

Aug 6, 2026 (original)

Source: EM Radiation Research Trust

Source category: Advocacy/NGO

EM Radiation Research Trust reports: Alasdair Philips and Denis Henshaw, scientific advisors to the UK advocacy group, revisit UK ONS brain-tumour data after champion British swimmer Archie Goodburn's diagnosis with three oligodendrogliomas. They report that the incidence of the aggressive Grade 3 form of this rare tumour rose roughly four-fold between 1995 and 2015, with the rise starting around 1997. Because the easier-to-diagnose aggressive tumours rose fastest, they argue improved diagnosis cannot explain the trend and point instead to an environmental or lifestyle factor. The authors call for research into causal factors and prevention rather than better treatments alone.

Note: Analysis by advisors to an advocacy group, not a peer-reviewed publication; the underlying 2018 incidence paper is peer-reviewed.

"This is important because it suggests the increase cannot simply be explained by improved diagnosis. If advances in imaging or diagnosis were the main explanation, we would expect the lower-grade tumours, which are generally more difficult to detect, to have shown the greatest increase. Instead, it is the more aggressive Grade 3 tumours, which have always been easier to diagnose, that show the steepest rise."

— Alasdair Philips and Denis Henshaw, EM Radiation Research Trust

"This naturally raises the question: what changed between 1995 and 2015 that might have contributed to an increase in OGD brain cancer incidence? It almost certainly has to be due to some lifestyle or environmental factors."

— Alasdair Philips and Denis Henshaw, EM Radiation Research Trust

"It would be far better to track down the causal factors and prevent new brain tumours from developing in the first place. That would reduce the devasting impact that a brain tumour has on an individual and their family and friends."

— Alasdair Philips and Denis Henshaw, EM Radiation Research Trust

Location

📍 United Kingdom

Source

What Archie Goodburn's Brain Tumour Diagnosis Reveals About Rising Brain Cancer Trends radiationresearch.org

📄 Underlying Research

Rise in Glioblastoma Multiforme Incidence in England 1995–2015 Suggests an Adverse Environmental or Lifestyle Factor

Philips A, Henshaw DL, Lamburn G, O'Carroll MJ (2018) Journal of Environmental and Public Health Journal Level 0ⓘ

🔗 DOI

🧠 EM Radiation Research Trust advisors revisit UK data: aggressive brain tumour type up four-fold since 1995

Source

📄 Underlying Research

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